Respect Bridges the Gap Between Younger Bosses and Older Workers

Cincinnati, OH, October 31, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Each year the workforce in our country becomes increasingly diverse in not only nationality and ethnicity but also age. There are many baby boomers staying longer in the workforce and the Gen Ys are increasingly coming out of college ready to find careers. More and more often younger bosses are managing these older workers and companies are struggling to meet the different needs of both parties while still finding success at the bottom line.

Linda Gravett and Robin Throckmorton, co-authors of Bridging the Generation Gap: How to Get Radio Babies, Boomers, Gen Xers, and Gen Yers to Work Together and Achieve More, believe that respect and open communication are the best tools for developing successful working relationships between these groups.

“Offices with younger bosses who manage older workers often have poor communication, high numbers of misunderstandings and unnecessary conflict, grounded in part in stereotypes held by each generation about other age groups,” Throckmorton said. “Older workers must fight the temptation to parent younger bosses, and younger bosses should be more respectful of their older staff's expertise and include them in decision making.”

The older generations often have the hardest time dealing with this issue. “Baby Boomers seem to struggle with the different work ethic of Xers and Yers and perceived unwillingness by those groups to pay their dues,” Gravett said. “Many Boomers are set in the notion that there's only one way to get ahead and that’s their way. Boomers need to be reminded that a 25-year-old can have knowledge and wisdom to share that will benefit them.”

According to Bridging the Generation Gap, the most important thing for companies to do to help these groups work best together would be to provide opportunities for inter-generational interaction as possible. Companies should be intentional about establishing a mentorship culture in which sometimes the younger person is the mentor. Another tip would be to provide opportunities for older workers to share their knowledge with the rest of the team such as writing employee newsletter articles and facilitating process improvement teams.

“The bottom line is that both generations need to respect the other for what they bring to the table,” Throckmorton said. “If expectations are clear and communications standards are set in advance, a tremendous amount of conflict will be reduced between younger bosses and older workers.”

Bridging the Generation Gap: How to Get Radio Babies, Boomers, Gen Xers, and Gen Yers to Work Together and Achieve More by Linda Gravett and Robin Throckmorton was published by Career Press in January 2007. The book is available online and in bookstores nationwide. For more information, visit www.strategichrinc.com/bridge.htm or www.gravett.com/announcements.htm.

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